Journalist Citizens

Since my return from India I’ve given much thought to the role photographers and journalists play in world events—or, perhaps that’s not the scale I’m considering—what is our role and responsibility to the individuals we document? This is not a novel question; it’s standard in the curriculum of J-schools everywhere and is (or should be) a primary consideration for any journalist of integrity. However, I’m trying to codify it for myself and make clear what I’m attempting when working with vulnerable people.
I’ve had a profitable discussion with David Wells over the past weeks; David is a former teacher of mine and experienced photojournalist. I suggested we might compose a code of conduct—a sort of Hippocratic Oath for photographers (again, not an original idea but one that might be revisited as the nature of journalism changes). I think it important that, as we travel into communities where we have free reign to work (often without thorough question of our motives), we clearly state our purpose and intent. We may not always fulfil that ideal but neither can a physician always save his or her patient. Journalism and medicine involve a careful balance of skill and serendipity; both carry the opportunity for healing as well as harm.

I celebrate the opportunities we have now for citizen journalism; the tools at hand take us far beyond traditional ‘gatekeeper controlled’ news. When someone with a pocket digital camera and a laptop can bring out hidden truths of a repressive government we’ve crossed a significant threshold. However, I wonder if we should not retain something of the old model—whether we are diffusing too much the role that a person defined as a journalist has to play in society. Everyone should be involved in the exchange of information and engage in the progress of their community, government, and so on; we have the ability to speak directly in a public arena without (generally) sanction or review by our peers. I just hope that, in the mêlée, the voices of Journalist Citizens are not forgotten. There is still room and need for people who are set apart for the specific task of digging deep and bringing out a story held to vigourous scrutiny. We seem to be loosing the ability to discern between citizens who express what they experience and journalists who write about the experiences of others; I speak from an American perspective watching and reading our news here. We readily accept the ‘journalism’ of a random weblogger (again, not to denigrate the medium; there are wonderful and thorough writers on the web) and simultaneously receive the rants of television anchors who speak without the backing of research or fact checking. Whether the medium is new and fluid or ‘old and respected’, truth suffers on both accounts. (Once again, this is an ongoing discussion all over the web and among journalists.)

To my point; I wonder if there is a place for a group of people set apart as far as possible from editorial coercion and political influence as possible. One of the issues photographers and journalists have in the field is their county of citizenship. There is always a political element if one is ‘an American photographer’ or an ‘Israeli journalist’; what if a neutral state offered a special conditional citizenship to journalists (in that, instead of swearing only allegiance to that state, the journalists would swear to uphold a strongly reasoned commitment to truth and transparency)?

Susan Garde Pettie (who will, I believe, be First Minister of Scotland one day) forwarded me a link concerning the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative. IMMI is an attempt to build a haven for journalism by writing best practices for free speech into Icelandic law. Iceland would become a physical repository for free speech via the internet to put information beyond the reach of repressive governments and corrupt corporations (who might otherwise shut down the servers of bloggers and newspapers in their own countries).

Birgitta Jónsdóttir is the Icelandic MP behind this initiative; I e-mailed her yesterday and suggested that Iceland develop a journalism degree program that incorporates the best practices of investigative integrity. After completing the program, the graduates would apply for citizenship (in the same spirit that the British and other countries offer a two year work visa to graduates; it draws students into the country and builds the overall skill pool). The whole process would be open and the ‘Icelandic Journalist’ passport would become a recognised mark worldwide. (It would need to be an actual citizenship as well; I don’t know if people would necessarily renounce citizenship of their home countries; but it would need to be legitimately recognised as full citizenship so people could be linked to the international conventions on citizen protection akin to what they are attempting with the press haven.) Birgitta responded this morning with some positive remarks, so we shall see where that goes. (By the way, Icelandic MP’s e-mail contacts are published on the web and they use their first names in the addresses; access, transparency, and a bit of humanity.)

Addendum: there are, no doubt, conventions that limit the scope of what states can confer upon citizens—but what if the Journalist Citizen had the same level of recognition as an official or diplomatic passport holder? The bearer could apply for ‘journalistic immunity’ in the same sense that diplomats may have immunity to prosecution.

More café brilliance

Overheard in the café today:
Woman on mobile phone, ‘I can’t find the damn phone number for my church’s prayer list.’

Barista, ‘I hope we didn’t give that guy too much coffee; I mean, did you see him? He was shaking all over.’

Thick-necked dude in group of wanna-be hipster guys (who, trust me, these guys sort of had the clothes down but failed miserably in every other respect), ‘I know she is just a whore, but I’m trying to be nice to her so she’ll at least sleep with me.’ This was a group of six guys; I wonder why they couldn’t get any women to hand out with them? Hmm.

Sigh.

Forced connexions

In my last post, Emily made a comment that she sometimes ‘feels guilty’ when she turns the page away from the image of a person in need.
I don’t know that I’m necessarily implying that there should be guilt involved; I think it’s something different that I’m not yet prepared to categorise. There is something larger involved in the connexion between the person photographed and the person who chooses to view the image.

Of course, we are saturated with images; like the people who are involved in a disaster who have no choice, we sometimes have no choice to view or not view an image of it. The disaster is brought into our living room or on our desktop.

This is why I have an issue with the people who send ‘pictures of children with flies in their eyes’ to my grandmother asking for funding for one cause or the other. Yes, the need may be legitimate; but they have not given my grandmother a choice to become involved or not. They have forced her into the situation and I wonder if this is not also a kind of secondary violation.

People should be aware; people should seek out a knowledge of world situations; I am truly frustrated with the censored images of war we see here in the States. However, I wonder if we need more training for people to discern how and when to engage in these issues to make our response more effective. Otherwise we risk desensitising ourselves to the reality of it. We risk the double violation of taking someone’s photo and exposing her to the eye of another person who cannot or will not respond in a way that helps either her or the viewer; there is the risk of violating one and traumatising the other.

Implications of the image

I’ve been asked to go to Haiti in July to document the work of a trauma therapy team (more on that very soon). Since returning from India, I’ve had some serious thought considering the nature of what I do in the field. I can, because of the power dynamics involved, go in and make images of vulnerable peoples without many hindrances. I am a white American with the power to enter into their world and exit freely; there are usually no questions asked or the permission for me to work is implicit (either from the unspoken understanding that ‘I’m here to help’ or some manner of unintentional intimidation on my part or the people I represent when working). I want to begin sorting through this before going out on assignment again.

This was at a rural village in India during a health clinic. Who are these children and how do their lives connect with yours? What gives me the right to force that connexion?

This was at a rural village in India during a health clinic. Who are these children and how do their lives connect with yours? What gives me the right to force that connexion?

In Haiti we will work with children who have lost both parents in the earthquake. They are physically and psychologically traumatised from the disaster; many live now on one meal of beans and rice a day (if that) and they have little emotional nourishment either. These are children who, at this time, have no say in the course of their lives; they are completely dependent on orphanages and aid agencies such as the one I will work with. I wish to consider how I obtain ‘permission’ to document the condition they are in. By this, I don’t mean ‘legal permission’; that is obtained easily enough from those acting in loco parentis. I want to consider how to enter into a situation where I am essentially the only one with apparent power and give people the ability to play a role in how they are portrayed.

I work mainly with NGOs who attempt, ostensibly, to ‘make the world a better place.’ My thought when I make an image of a person ‘over there’ who is vulnerable and ‘in need of our help’ is that this image will help the larger group of people represented by it. However, this person in the image is not a larger group—this is a person who I have chosen to capture in an image at a particular moment at a particular time; they have a specific life that brought us together at a particular 1/125th of a second. After that moment is over, what gives me the right to step away from them forever and present them as representative of a group? The argument that the larger whole is served may be in some way valid; but what of that specific person presented in the image? If they are not helped in some way, is there a violence done to them? (Consider this in the inverse; when you see the image of an angry young Arab man what is the first impulse in your mind? What is the implication of the stone throwing man in the picture? That these people as a whole are angry and violent? Does he truly represent the group or is he an isolated individual? What violence to truth is accomplished both by the picture of the child with files in his eyes and the man with a Molotov Cocktail?)

Also, have we truly asked if ‘they’ want our help? It is assumed that the distressed people over there want and need our assistance; however, I think we must take care of the Great White Saviour Syndrome. It can be safely assumed that many of the people we encounter in these situations do wish our presence and welcome assistance; however, the assumption does not give us licence to do further harm to already vulnerable people by exploiting them for our own good purposes. It’s a fine line to ride; but I think it’s imperative to consider it deeply. There are more parties involved than just the photographer and the subject as well; we must consider to what end these images are used. The viewer must react in some way...either by taking some action to remedy the situation or not. The act of viewing an image places moral responsibility on the viewer to respond; they are, in some sense, ‘present’ in the situation brought to them by the image (this is the same argument used when prosecuting pedophiles who are found with child pornography; they have participated in the abuse even if they were not physically present when the image was made).

​Health workers in India; what are their stories and does a four word caption in any way do justice to the lives they lead and the work they do for rural poor people?

​Health workers in India; what are their stories and does a four word caption in any way do justice to the lives they lead and the work they do for rural poor people?

There is a chain of communication I want to consider; from the person photographed, the photographic process itself (and the alterations it inevitably makes to the ‘real’), myself as a photographer, and the viewer. It’s not just going in and snapping some photos; I’m starting to work at the margins of the world where moral questions reach their frayed ends.

Random Caffeine Induced Quotes

Was just in the coffee shop and overheard these two statements:
“Jesus Christ! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” If one changes that to a form of address rather than an expletive, it sounds like an request that God not be so covert when approaching as in, “I hope, the next time I have a Theophany, Jesus gives me some kind of warning before just appearing like that.”

“Have you seen The Count of Monte Cristo? I think it’s almost impossible to condense the work of Richard (sic.) Dumas into a movie.” The fellow saying this pronounced Dumas as ‘Dumb-ass’.

HHB FlashMic Field Test

This is an aside from everything else I’m considering at the moment but I feel compelled to write up a brief review of the FlashMic as there is not much information on it published and I’ve just worked with it in the field for a few weeks. Plus I’m processing all this deep personal and emotional stuff and need to geek out for a bit.
Prior to purchasing the FlashMic, I had HHB’s MiniDisc recorder; this served me well in all kinds of situations worldwide for several years. However, it is an over the shoulder recorder and basically requires a separate kit case for itself and its components. I’m travelling as light as possible now so a recorder built into the microphone is ideal (most of what I do is interview to mic anyway so the over the shoulder set-up is often overkill). Also, the MiniDisc recorder was damaged in flight on a prior assignment and was going to cost as much to repair as to replace so it was time to look for a new solution.

I have the DRM85, which is the omnidirectional model; most of my interviews are in somewhat controlled situations but it can be run and gun as well so I wanted the versatility of an omni and also hoped for less handling noise as well (more on that in a bit).

Handling and Design
The recorder has a ‘confidently solid’ feel but is not especially heavy (that said, if you are holding it at arm’s length for a 20 minute interview, the weight will be noticed; but that is the case with almost any microphone). It looks quite bulky in comparison to a standard interview microphone but I think most people would assume (if indeed they would assume anything) that it is a wireless mic. It does however, apparently raise an eyebrow at the airport security check; I was pulled aside at every point and hand searched with an explosives swab for it. It’s just out of their ordinary scope enough that they want to check it (and there was a moment in Frankfurt with security singing into it as if they were on a certain kind of television talent show…wish I would have had it recording).

I have only a couple concerns about the design; the USB and headphone ports are on the bottom end of the unit along with a rocker switch that controls most of the functions. I have a feeling that, of this were used in a ‘full-on’ news-gathering situation, that this area would be susceptible to damage or intrusion by soil or moisture. It would be good if there were some manner of rubber caps for the ports as there are on most professional cameras. The rocker switch, though I’ve no problems with it as yet, seems especially delicate. As it is necessary for all operation (it turns the unit on and off), any damage to it would be an end to the day. It is recessed, so they have physically protected it, but still I think it could do with a bit more robust design. I’ve no qualms about the membrane buttons on the side; they seem ready for anything (however, I do notice that the colour applied to each button is already beginning to wear off).

As this is a somewhat pricey bit of kit, it’s not something one wants to toss about or accidently drop. I’d like it if there were some provision for a wrist strap; I realise it would be difficult to isolate the strap connexion from the microphone to keep it from inducing handling noise. But I think I’m going to find myself fretting over the safety of the recorder where I should be focusing on an interview. I also find myself recording in dodgy situations sometimes on the street; as the recorder is just in one’s hand, it would make a perfect ‘grab and go’ item for an opportunistic thief (no doubt recording my protestations fading into the background as the thief runs off into a back alley).

As it’s an omni, I don’t think it’s especially susceptible to wind noise; nonetheless, I did purchase a dead kitty for it (it’s the Remote Audio Fat Cat; which fits, but it just fits with a bit of argument). It does have more handling noise than I had expected; one must be careful during recording not to futz about with it too much (it seems to have more handling noise than most dynamic cardioids; even the Sennheiser cardioid which I’m assuming the design is based on). This is just something to be aware of but I wish the capsule had slightly more isolation from the body. That said, there is good rejection of ambient noise; I recorded a couple very usable clips in the back of a cab in Mumbai and in a Land Rover out in the country. Also, as an omni, if one places it on a table, it becomes a quasi-PZM mic; I recorded a couple meetings that I knew would not be used for later podcasts but wanted for my records. I picked up acceptable audio by just sitting the microphone on a table in the midst.

Operation
The operation is fairly straightforward; once one figures out how to turn it on (which is not self-evident; it’s by a press and hold of the rocker switch on the bottom). There is a slight delay between a press for on and the recorder booting up and becoming ready for use (again, wish that could be a little less as I found myself wanting to catch a quick bit of conversation and waiting for the recorder to ready itself; that is going to be the case with most digital recorders now anyway. I think it’s just that I learned to do sound recording on a NAGRA which was going at the flip of a switch). As an aside, the manual that comes with the unit is beautifully done; whereas many manuals are either perfunctory or overly cluttered with jargon, HHB seem to have actual humans somewhere who are able to write lucidly.

They’ve managed to devise a fairly intuitive menu system with just a couple buttons and a one line display (this is supplemented with additional set-up software on one’s computer). One can define a number of pre-set recording scenarios; as I always record at the highest bit rate and etc., I didn’t use this much but see how it could be useful for working journalists. One minor niggle which I would imagine will change in the next model is that the display is sort of 1980’s vintage. It can be slightly difficult to read on the go; would be great if they could replace it with an OLED screen with sharp text (though, I would imagine that might be more of a power drain; I’m sure there was some discussion about this in design).

The overall operation could not be simpler; I was quite pleased to finally have something I could toss in a bag and then pull out at a moment’s notice for high-quality interviews. In the field, it’s often those impromptu moments that best capture the heart of the story and it’s a recorder like this that encourages that kind of work.

Sound Quality
In a word, excellent; it’s up with the best digital field recorders. Obviously there are recorders with super high bit rates and so on but a higher bit rate on this unit would be redundant. If anything it’s a bit too clear. The sound is, to my ear, bright; that can be brought back in post, but it would be nice if they could tweak the A/D converter slightly to encourage a warmer ‘NPR sound’. Clarity is good, but you’ll hear every lip parting and the hairs moving in your interviewee’s nose. I realise they are probably aiming for the most detail possible as the general use for this will be broadcast and the sound will probably suffer through several generations of compression.

Wish List
I like what HHB have done with the software interface but hope they take it a step further in future revisions. First, I wish the naming scheme for files was akin to that of digital cameras or that the software recognised the difference between already existing files and new ones. As it is, the naming structure is a straight _001, _002, _003, etc. If one erases files from the mic it begins again at _001; when one then attempts to upload new files into an already existing folder on the computer, there is a risk of over-writing the first set of files. Instead, one needs to organise each new set of files in a different folder and re-name them something sensible along the way. This doesn’t always work well in practice when one is rushing at the end of the day; it would be good if the software worked something like Apple’s iPhoto or the like and recognised the new and old, sorting them accordingly.

Next, I wonder if it might be possible to have the same features of the software for the computer in an iPhone app? This would be very useful for field use (and could even eliminate the need for a laptop on short trips). If a someone could upload, review, and send his or her clips via the iPhone, this would make a perfect field kit for a journalist (or podcaster or what have you). Also, taking it a couple steps further, might it be possible to connect the mic for live use via USB? This would add another level of functionality either on a laptop or phone for live to air spots.

There is a bit of handling noise if one marks a track during recording; could the recorder be equipped with Bluetooth for remote control of functions? For headphone monitors? I know Bluetooth only works within a few feet; but even headphone cables are a bit unwieldy coming out the bottom of the unit; might it be possible to go wireless with this? Or, could there be a complete WiFi interface between an iPhone of laptop to control, monitor, and upload the audio? I can imagine this would be useful for journalists at a press conference (and I know, for the seminar work I do, it would be great, as I’m often sitting in the audience and not able to access the recorder at the podium). That’s probably wishing for a lot, but still possible I think.

One thing that would be relatively easy to do is allow charging via USB; as I was wanting to pack very light for this trip, I opted to use lithium cells rather than bring along a charger (by the way, I used only two pair of lithiums on the whole trip; they seem to work a lot longer than noted in the manual!). It would be one less thing to pack if the rechargeable cells could be topped up via USB.

Also, I think this would be a great recorder for sight impaired people to use. The controls are straightforward; all that would be needed is some audio feedback via the monitors concerning what the mic is doing. This could be in the form of a quiet series of beeps or something like what Apple has done with their new Shuffle; a voice could say what track one is on, time remaining, etc.

Overall
Very pleased; I’m finally able to pack almost all my gear in a small backpack and go work without a load of cases or concern over technical issues. The FlashMic is going to be a constant companion on assignments now and, I think, will change the way I work and approach interviews (from the ease of use aspect as well as the fact that this is a non-imposing device I can pull out when someone might otherwise be intimidated by a big kit). I feel comfortable using it without headphones even (the AGC is excellent) so it is rather like a point and shoot camera except the results are always top notch. I’ll keep updating on its use here as I get out into different situations that test its abilities and limitations.

The interview below was recorded entirely with the FlashMic (as were most of the interviews on my Soundcloud account).​